Chapter 27: Li Jin's Ominous Memory (3.2K)

Li Ye couldn't help but freeze. "Even killing a single goblin can drop a luxury car blueprint—what kind of luck do you have?" The bounty hunter scratched his head. "I don't know, I just always seem to be lucky." Li Ye took the Rolls-Royce blueprint from his hand and fell into deep thought. "Hiss... crossing into a post-apocalyptic wasteland and getting to drive a Rolls-Royce, life’s really looking up for me!" But thinking carefully, such a luxury car wasn’t practical on the wasteland—it consumed too much fuel and required constant maintenance. With just 50 more units of iron ore, he could build a level-1 off-road vehicle. He immediately shook his head. "No." Then, he looked at the Goblin Helicopter. 【Item Name: Goblin Combat Helicopter】 【Item Level: Level 1】 【Bonus Effect: Speed +10%】 【Requirements to Build: 150 units of iron ore (level 1), 10 units of flying vehicle accessories (level 1)】 【Note: The Production Workshop does not have the blueprint for this item, so it cannot be manufactured】 For a Mobile City, a flying vehicle was extremely valuable. It could perform missions such as forward reconnaissance and aerial fire support for the Mobile City. Moreover, the Mobile City’s deck could serve as a landing pad for refueling. The mutual assistance between them would be immensely beneficial. In the end, the bounty hunter packaged the helicopter along with its blueprint and sold them to Li Ye for 3,000 Crystal Coins. Earning 3,000 Crystal Coins from a single trip was quite a haul, and he planned to relax for a while afterward. In fact, Li Ye could have chosen to rob and kill. But with Tomorrow’s current strength, there was no need to stoop to that level. If he were to make a move, at the very least it would need to be for a whole row of helicopters. "Pleasure doing business," he shook hands with the bounty hunter and prepared to leave. The other man hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Wait. You seem like a decent person. Out here in the wild, you didn’t try to rob me. Let me give you this blueprint I found in the canyon too!" "Hmm?" Li Ye turned back in surprise. He saw the bounty hunter pull out another blueprint from his coat. 【Item Name: Streamlined Diving Suit】 【Item Level: Common】 【Bonus Effect: None】 【Requirements to Build: 50 units of fabric (level 1)】 "Oh?" His eyes immediately lit up. To the bounty hunter, it was just a common blueprint that didn’t add much to his own strength and would probably only sell for a few hundred Crystal Coins. But for a Mobile City, this held significant value. It would definitely come in handy for future sea expeditions—sometimes it was hard to find even if one wanted to. He thanked the man and accepted the blueprint. After returning to the deck, Li Ye took out the two blueprints and examined them. The diving suit blueprint, though only common, was already a decent functional item. As for the Rolls-Royce blueprint, although it wasn’t practical, he could upload it into the Production Workshop for collection. In fact, he quite enjoyed the feeling of collecting blueprints—just like players in online games collecting diagrams of various equipment and items. The most crucial part was, you could actually build the items listed in the illustrated handbook. Li Ye thus made a decision. If he had spare money in the future, he would collect more blueprints. Even if they weren't used, just having them lined up in the Production Workshop looked pleasing to the eye. Then he touched his pocket with some melancholy. After that round of spending, he was nearly out of Crystal Coins again. Next, he used the elevator platform to transport the Goblin Helicopter onto Tomorrow's deck and arranged for Lin Wu to inspect it. After a thorough check, Lin Wu found that the only issue was a loose bolt on the rotor, and tightening it was all it took to make it operational. After some careful study, the two of them discovered that the Goblin Helicopter was surprisingly easy to operate. Its dashboard was far more straightforward than human ones—clear and easy to understand at a glance. The controls were limited to the collective lever, cyclic stick, rudder pedals, and throttle. Li Ye even found a Goblin Idiot’s Manual tucked inside the helicopter. Under his cautious operation, the helicopter actually managed to take off. However, due to its crude construction, it looked like it might fall apart at any moment during flight. Li Ye flew it low and close to the ground in several loops, then returned it to the upper deck. During the flight, he specifically checked its firepower—the left and right wings each carried a machine gun, and the bomb bay held six bombs. As a level-1 vehicle, it was quite fast, but its build was fragile—it could easily be pierced by bullets, causing a fuel tank fire and explosion. However, for Goblins, this already counted as fairly decent aerial combat power. ...... Afterward, Li Ye ordered Tomorrow to head toward the Rotting Lands to collect oil from a small oilfield. Because the oilfield was underground and completely invisible from the surface, he could only send Lin Wu out with the old petroleum survey equipment from storage to search the area. Once the location was confirmed, Tomorrow opened a hatch at the bottom, extending an old automated drilling rig which slowly rotated and bored into the ground. The hydraulic drill head roared as it tore through the rock layers, eventually reaching the oil reservoir. An oil pipeline extended from the rig and began siphoning the oil, which was pumped into the Mobile City’s oil tanks. Because the oilfield was small, the entire process only took half an hour. Li Ye took inventory of the gains from this operation. A total of 231 units of oil. Oil could be processed into fuel in the Production Workshop, and fuel was the best resource to replenish the Mobile City’s energy. Not only that, but off-road vehicles and the Goblin Helicopter also required fuel. Considering that Tomorrow might unlock plastic manufacturing in the future—and that producing plastic needed oil—and that the city’s energy was still within the safe zone, Li Ye decided not to process the oil but to store it instead. Next, he set off back to Roland Fortress to prepare for the most urgent matter at hand—attacking the Glos Mine. Azure and Conqueror were still undergoing repairs and maintenance at the fortress, and Li Ye quickly found both Li Jin and Lei Jian to inform them. Upon hearing that another Wild BOSS had appeared, both Li Jin and Lei Jian were visibly shocked, their eyes quickly turning fervent. They had already witnessed the loot dropped by a Wild BOSS before. "This time, we'll still need to work together just like last time," Li Ye said. Seeing both Li Jin and Lei Jian nod, a hint of relief flickered in his eyes. Thankfully, Azure and Conqueror were both around, and they had fought together before, so there was still some mutual trust. Otherwise, Tomorrow alone wouldn’t stand a chance of taking Glos Mine—let alone obtaining that Mobile City Promotion Blueprint. "By the way, where is Glos Mine? Do either of you have intel on it?" Lei Jian asked. Li Ye immediately looked at Li Jin. The intelligence only reported the appearance of a Wild BOSS; it did not mention the location of Glos Mine. The location of Glos Mine and the monsters stationed there were only known to Azure, which had once suffered a defeat there. And the moment Glos Mine was mentioned, a look of someone being chased by a pack of vicious dogs appeared on Li Jin’s face. According to what he said, Glos Mine was located 180 kilometers northwest of Roland Fortress. It was a mountain of considerable scale, rich in mineral resources. And the monsters guarding Glos Mine... were Goblins. “Goblins?” Li Ye was surprised. In the wasteland, Goblins were considered the most common level-1 monsters. They were short in stature, sinister and cowardly by nature, had green skin all over, and a pair of narrow, red eyes. They were among the weakest monsters and could be killed easily. Moreover, the drop rate for these level-1 monsters was extremely poor—most of the time only one or two Crystal Coins, or even none at all; with luck, they might drop some iron ore or fabric. “Just Goblins did that much damage to your Azure?” Lei Jian was skeptical. Li Jin quickly shook his head. “You don’t understand just how absurd the Goblins there are,” he said. “Listen to me carefully.” When they first discovered Glos Mine, Li Jin and the people of Azure were ecstatic. You had to know that the resources from a mine could be several times greater than those from a mining site. There was even a chance of producing a series of rare ore veins, along with more valuable crystals. Especially after discovering that the monsters guarding the mine were only Goblins, they were overjoyed. Compared to Serpentfolk or Boarmen, these monsters were practically negligible. Considering the unpredictable dangers of the wild and the chance that another Mobile City might discover the mine, Azure quickly mobilized their combat personnel and launched an assault on Glos Mine. But the moment the battle began, they sensed that something was wrong. The Goblins at Glos Mine quickly regrouped and began counterattacking with cannons and heavy machine guns. What they had built on the mine was not just tunnels, but also a large number of trenches, fortresses, and other defensive structures. The Goblins were well-trained and numerous, with countless cannons and heavy machine guns—the dense firepower instantly engulfed Azure. They even dispatched rows of helicopters to strafe and bomb Azure’s deck. When a helicopter was shot down, a Goblin would bravely steer it to crash into Azure. For a moment, it felt like the entire mountain was firing at them. The damage caused by Azure’s heavy machine guns and cannons was limited, as most Goblins were hiding in trenches and fortresses, with their heavy firepower set up at high positions. What terrified them even more was that the Goblins brought out two level-1 cannons. Li Jin immediately ordered Azure to retreat. But even then, one of the level-1 cannons hit Azure, shaking the entire Mobile City. Azure almost didn’t make it out alive. Afterward, the damage assessment showed the Mobile City was heavily damaged, with significant casualties—Li Jin himself had even been seriously wounded and fell unconscious. Even now, though recovered, Li Jin still spoke of it with lingering fear. Li Ye and Lei Jian looked at each other, a heavy look appearing in their eyes. They hadn’t expected Glos Mine’s defenses to be so outrageous. “Looks like we’ll have to plan this out carefully...” Lei Jian sighed. “So the Goblin Helicopter came from Glos Mine,” Li Ye suddenly understood. He thought for a moment, then spoke. “Tomorrow has a helicopter. I can send it to scout the mine, determine the deployment of their fortresses and cannons, and participate in the battle,” he suggested. Li Jin and Lei Jian were instantly shocked when they heard this. “What? You actually have a helicopter?”